Professor Layton and the Beam Katana Chronicles
by SuperStickmanML
Summary: The marvelous tale of classy British gentleman Professor Layton and foul-mouthed assassin Travis Touchdown, and their forced alliance against their new diabolical benefactors.
1. Wilderness

Professor Layton and the Beam Katana Chronicles

Chapter One

Layton looked through the cracked window of the abandoned building he and his accomplice were hiding, gazing forlornly across the vast, distorted wasteland, which was peppered with deep gashes weathered into the rock and stone circles built by nomads who had long since moved on. He looked down to his simple brown leather shoes, ragged from the trekking of recent months, then glanced at his trunk, which was empty but for his journal and a few crumbs.

"Travis, we have to move soon. We're completely out of food," Layton called over his shoulder. "We'll not last three days if we don't find some more provisions."

Travis Touchdown, who was lying on his back in the next room, pulled himself up eagerly. "Finally! If I don't get something to kill soon, I'll freak." he drawled, walking towards the door with his hands in his pockets.

"Travis, wait!" Layton called. "Remember, we have to be careful! They're on the lookout for us, perhaps even right now! We can't just storm out, we could be spotted!"

"Exactly!" Travis snapped. "I've been desperate to give those bastards a close-up of my beam katana for weeks now! Besides, I didn't want to go through with this half-assed plan in the first place. What was the point of leaving Santa Destroy?"

Layton sighed. "The point was to escape the system before they started experimenting on us, and then to try and bring it down." he explained for the umpteenth time.

"If we're trying to bring these douchebags down, then why the big deal about me wantin' to cut a few of their heads off?" Travis growled.

"I don't believe in violence as a method of success." said Layton, crossing his arms.

"Well, that's freedom for ya." said Travis, glaring at the London professor.

"This isn't freedom! How is hiding behind boulders so that the authorities don't see us considered freedom?" Layton exclaimed. "And keep in mind that we're in the only fifty square meters on the planet that they haven't taken over, and most of it is contaminated by radiation in some way."

"Hey, no need for the lecture. It was your idea." said Travis, raising an eyebrow.

Layton breathed deeply and tried to clear his mind. "You're right… this was my idea. What's done is done, and there's no going back. Besides, at least I'm not still stuck in London. It's completely awful there now."

"You could get some decent food there, or whatever you English have instead of food." said Travis.

"The food has been utterly dismal since the takeover, and I can honestly say I don't miss it." Layton said confidently.

"Well, it was still food." said Travis, poking his rumbling stomach.

Layton wandered back over to the window and looked out again. "Travis, it seems the day is clearing up a bit! Some good weather always works wonders for-"

"Shut up!" Travis called from the other room. "Seriously!"

Layton scowled at the doorway where the voice had just come from, then went back to staring out the window.

"Wait." Travis said to himself. "I heard something!"

A squadron of soldiers, wearing black uniforms, gas masks, badges emblazoned with a triangle with an eye inside, and brandishing oversized machine guns, had surrounded the building.

Boned.


	2. Something Utterly Dismal

Professor Layton and the Beam Katana Chronicles

Chapter Two

Ten minutes later, the pair found themselves left out of the way in a power plant while the soldiers went on their break; they'd be back to bring them to their building momentarily. Travis hunched on the bench, his wrists handcuffed. Layton was in the even less comfortable position of having his wrist chained to the top of an electrical unit.

"You happy now?" Travis muttered.

"You're the one who was so eager to dash outside without a care in the world." Layton snapped irritably. He'd never gone so long without a cup of tea. "Besides, we only ever had a choice between a rock and a hard place."

"In English, please?" Travis growled.

Layton sighed. "We were going to be in a bad situation whatever happened, and in my opinion this isn't the worst situation, so there's no need to be so hostile."

"Dude, we've been captured!" Travis shouted. "Don't you have any sense of honor? We've been beaten, so this can't be a good thing! It's the way the world works! Besides, it was _your_ idea to try to escape in the first place!"

"You're looking at this in a two-dimensional manner." Layton explained, much to the otaku's exasperation.

An old woman walked past them and down the corridor without giving them a second glance. Suddenly, one of the guards burst out from a door and beat her over the head for no apparent reason.

Layton cringed and turned his head away, staring into the electrical unit. "Travis, we need to get out of here…"

Travis rolled his eyes. "That's what you said two months ago. And didn't you just say we were better off here?"

Layton grimaced; this was true. Two months previous, he was driving home to his London apartment, where his apprentices Luke and Flora were waiting for him, when he saw Travis, beaten up and near-unconscious on the side of the road. Being a hospitable man, he stopped the car, helped Travis to his feet and agreed to take him wherever he needed to go.

On the way, Travis explained that he was driving along on his bike, the Schieptelger, when a cop car smashed into his side. Several guards came out and shot a few bullets into his limbs to keep him down, then confiscated his bike, even though there was no legit reason for them to do so.

It was then that Layton realized; "Travis, we need to get out of here…"

Layton shook the memory out of his mind. "Not to go back in the wilderness this time, though." he elaborated. "There must be some sort of underground rebel group."

"I'm not wasting my time chasing conspiracy theories about organizations that probably don't exist." Travis muttered.

"That's what we all said when they warned us that all this would happen." said Layton. "Now to the problem at hand; to which building have we been allocated?"

"_To which building have we been allocated_…" Travis mimicked. "Jesus, you have nothing to live for, man! You can drop the professor act."

"Well, excuse me for respecting the English language." said Layton, crossing his arms. "I wouldn't dream of ending my sentence on a proposition in a time like this."

Travis groaned and hung his head. "Fuck it. The building's that way." he said, waving his handcuffed hands in the general direction of the East. "Are you happy now? Maybe you can let me be pissed off in peace?"

**Half an hour later**

Travis lay on the couch in their new apartment, while Layton looked about. "It seems that we have a television in here now." he noted, flipping the switch and turning the box on.

"Don't bother; they'll just be putting up the usual propaganda bullshit." Travis drawled. "Anyway, Layton, I've been thinking… Maybe, if we took a different course of action. We could save up our cash, and then try to bribe one of the people in charge?"

Layton frowned. "I'm not sure that would work. I don't think any of our so-called superiors would risk their current position for any amount of money, when you consider the perks."

Travis almost smirked. "Yeah… the bastards are getting 'mechanical simulations of reproduction' when they do a good days work. Whoever came up with that one is a freak."

"Hmmm, yes." Layton mused. "So, I doubt any bribe we can offer will lure them away."

"Yup. You can't beat that." said Travis. "How about buying a device that'll allow us to escape?"

"I don't think we'll find any of those in the local market." Layton pointed out.

"Well then, we'll make one ourselves!" Travis said. He jumped up off the couch, glad to have a new goal to work towards. "I mean, I failed my electronics class back in high school, but you're way better at all that. I'll just scavenge whatever materials I can."

Layton rubbed his fingers together. "I'm a professor of archaeology, not mechanics… but never say never. Travis, this could well work!"

Travis rubbed his hands together. "Don't worry, whatever we're making doesn't have to be rocket science. Anyway, dinner. What've we got?"

"Something utterly dismal." Layton sighed, pulling himself up off his chair.


	3. Plans

Professor Layton and the Beam Katana Chronicles

Chapter Three

Layton leaned on the balcony outside their apartment, looking down at the junk-littered streets below, and up to the massive corporate skyscraper towering above the filth, where the benefactors resided at the top.

Travis slouched against a telephone pole nearby. "So, what you gonna do?" he asked Layton.

"You mean when they come for me?" said Layton, biting his bottom lip nervously.

"No, douchebag, the device." said Travis. "That we're making to escape? The reason we came out here in the first place?"

Layton shook himself. "Right."

A long, tense silence followed. Travis looked at Layton expectantly. Layton looked back at Travis, a bit bemused.

"So… _what_?" asked Travis.

Layton sighed. "I must admit, I don't know where to start." he said, looking down at the ground.

Travis vented his frustration by kicking the pole. "Great… oh well. It's not like we have a time limit or anything." he said, looking up to the stormy skies.

"Well, we could build some sort of car or motorbike, but getting an engine would be difficult." said Layton.

"It'd need to be powerful enough." Travis pointed out.

Layton stared up at the skyscraper piercing the cloudy sky again. "I guess we could find something in the dried-up river bed." he mused. "Especially near the hospital. Occasionally, they dump an atrocious amount of waste. Since the river bed is naturally very poorly patrolled, it should be a safe start for some research."

"Dude, that's ages away." said Travis. "It'll take us forever to build this thing if we have to go back and forth a few miles every time we need a few more parts."

"Well Travis, like you said, we don't have a time limit." Layton pointed out.

"Yeah, but the sooner the better." said Travis.

Before long, they decided that they had no better options, and made their way down to the river bed. By the time they got there, it was snowing heavily.

"Jesus…" Travis muttered. "Why did it have to start snowing right now? It never snowed back in Santa Destroy."

"Well Travis, it _is _November." said Layton.

Travis sighed. "Ask a stupid question. You go set up camp, I'll start searching."


	4. Scavenger Hunt

Professor Layton and the Beam Katana Chronicles

The next morning at ten, Travis made his way through the river bed, hoping not to slice his leg open on anything sharp. Not that it was likely – there was a cluster of rubbish and a corpse here and there, but not enough to prove a hazard, and certainly not enough to build a car out of. "'Atrocious amount of waste', my ass." he muttered.

Layton had taken off looking for materials at six, the madman. Travis couldn't have been bothered, and was only starting now.

Travis shivered violently. He'd have to find a way to stay warm; there was a reason there were so many dead bodies scattered around the place.

He spotted a small man-made cave dug into the wall of the river – it must have been blown away by explosives. Travis thought he saw a flicker of flames inside. Eager to restore some warmth, he scrambled through the junk to the small cavern in the brick wall.

There in the cave lay the breathless body of a man in a doctor's uniform, resting beside a fire. He must have tried to escape too. Travis knelt down beside him and started removing his uniform.

"Sorry, bro," he said to the body. "But I'm more in need of these than you are. Rest in peace."

Travis walked out of the cave with the extra layer of the medic uniform. Comfortably warm now, he wandered down the river bed, hands in pockets, scanning his surroundings for useful materials.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot erupted from their campsite, echoing through the city.

Travis stood in the river bed, rooted to the spot. There was no way that actually just happened. They'd covered their tracks. The gunshot must have been from above, his ears must be playing tricks on him, because there was no way that they'd been hunted down, and no way would Professor Layton, a pure gentleman, the epitome of politeness, wit and class, there was no way they had shot him, he couldn't be dead…

And then the truth smacked him over the head like a speeding locomotive; Layton was dead, gone. The guards had tracked them down, and he had to run now, before they caught him as well.

Travis whipped out his beam katana and pushed the 'On' switch into it's scabbard, sending a furious cylinder of electric-blue energy bursting from it's end for about half a meter. Against his better instinct, he wasn't going to rush in and slice all the guards to pieces for killing his friend… who knew how many were out there? No, though it pained him to do it, and although he clenched his fist around the handle of his blade with such rage that his veins popped out and his knuckles turned white… he would have to run. It would be suicide to take them on, even in small numbers. They were too powerful… Layton had just learned that the hard way.

As Travis dashed through the river bed again, slashing his blade through detritus that blocked his path, his senses dulled, sounds of cars driving by and of the electric slashes of the katana blurred into the background. Funeral bells rang in his head as he ran past a massive corporate block with the symbol embedded on it; a triangle with an eye inside. Layton deserved a better life than this; he deserved to go home to those two apprentices of his, whatever their names were. He deserved a better death, too; laid down to rest in a coffin, surrounded by those paying their respects, not shot by a gang of thugs and left to rot in a river bed. He died a death worthy of a fool, when he deserved to be let down on a bed to pass on in peace.

After some time – he had given up on trying to keep track of how long – Travis's assassin senses snapped into focus. As he had been running, he had found the soldier's squad car parked in an out-of-the-way spot in the detritus. Travis smiled. He had the car he needed and he had some small revenge on the soldiers. Rather an efficient turn of events.

Travis hopped into the squad car, jammed the point of his katana into the ignition to start the engine (one of Naomi's most innovative additions), revved the ignition and took off with a screech of tyres towards the way out of the river bed, and hopefully to freedom.

To Be Concluded…

Not next chapter, but soon, I promise. =3 Please review! Keeps me motivated.


	5. Passing the Torch

Professor Layton and the Beam Katana Chronicles

Chapter Five

Travis reluctantly trudged down the London High Street between two young children, one a boy with blonde hair and a blue cap, the other a girl with light brown hair done up tidily in a bow and wearing a formal pink dress. The three of them were being escorted by a pair of guards, clad in bulletproof jumpsuits and gas masks, and wielding large laser guns hooked up to a power supply in their backpacks.

"Well, that was a completely crap attempt at an escape." Travis groaned. "What the hell's gonna happen now?"

He looked up to the sky and swallowed. The massive Operations Tower, climbing a thousand stories into the grey sky, towered over the wrecked steampunk city like a colossal lookout tower. At the very top, Travis could just about make out the usual symbol of a triangle with an eye inside. He felt a chill go down his spine; it was a truly ominous sight.

The group of five came to stop at a trench that had been dug in the road. It had probably been blown into the ground by rebels who had gotten their hands on some military explosives, and there was no way the party would be able to pass. One of the guards said something incomprehensible into his communications device as Travis and the two children sat down by the edge of the trench with an air of hopelessness.

"So, you two knew the professor?" said Travis, trying to start a conversation.

"Yes, he was our mentor." said the young boy. "My name is Luke Triton, and this is Flora Reinhold." Flora nodded in acknowledgement, sitting down next to Luke.

Travis mused on this. "Yeah, he said something about you two. He was worried about you. I didn't know him that well, he was just some guy… we teamed up out of necessity more than actually liking each other."

Flora hung her head. Luke sensed that something was amiss, and pulled over to her. "Are you alright, Flora?"

"Yes… yes, I'm fine…" said Flora, breathing heavily. "I just… just can't believe he's gone!" Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

Luke put his arm around Flora's shoulder and spoke to her softly. "I know it's a shock to lose someone so close to us, but we must keep hope. I don't think the Professor would have liked to see us spending all our time moping."

Flora nodded sadly. "Yes, but what are we going to do without him? We can't hope to escape this place! These thugs could rule London for years to come!"

"Well, the way I see it, the torch has been passed to us now." said Luke. "First there was Doctor Schrader, then there was the Professor, and now there's you and me. We can get out of here, we just have to trust each other, and stay hopeful."

"Yes… that's right. Thank you, Luke." Flora threw her arms around Luke and squeezed him tightly. Once she let go, Luke found himself blushing slightly.

"You know Luke, you're very kind…" Flora said awkwardly. "… and you've matured a lot since all this started. It's like you're not just a child anymore."

Luke's heart did a little skip, and he chuckled. "I suppose needs be and all, since the Professor left somebody had to take charge." He immediately cursed his words. "Not that I'm saying _you_ couldn't take charge or anything…"

Flora smiled. "I know what you mean. But still, we're only eight years old. Who's going to look after us now?"

Travis cleared his throat and stood up. "I suppose I could keep an eye out for you two, since you haven't any options."

Luke and Flora gazed up at Travis. "Really? Are you sure? You hardly know us." said Luke.

"I think it's what Layton would have wanted." Travis shrugged. "Besides, I can't just let you out here on your own, can I?"

"Thank you, sir!" said Flora, standing up to shake Travis's hand. "Although I'm not sure that will be much good if we don't get out of here."

"Don't even think about it." said Travis, the sides of his mouth tightening. "If we run, they'll only catch us again."

The guard continued to chatter into the comms unit, gesturing instructions to his companion. A helicopter flew low overhead, swaying the telephone lines. The other guard attempted to leap across the trench, but collided with the other side and fell like a stone to the bottom, landing with a crunch of debris and metal.

"Well, there's only one guard watching us now, and he doesn't seem to be the brightest." Luke pointed out. "Maybe there's a chance?"

"Wouldn't risk it just yet…" Travis said, observing his surroundings. Most would just see buildings and graffiti and junk, but he saw potential hiding places, plans, strategies. If he was ever going to escape, he would have to 'chess' the guards rather than try to simply outrun or overpower them.

"Does anyone know where those two are taking us anyhow?" Luke asked.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's anywhere pleasant." Flora said grimly.

"The conversation's getting stale." Travis snapped. "How about you two shut up until we actually find out something?"

Luke sighed. A fine English gentleman Travis was most certainly not. It seemed that was his job now.

Flora lay down on the ground, even though it was riddled with dirt and broken glass. "How long have we been walking around this city?" she murmured, exhausted.

Travis checked his phone. "Like, three hours?"

"It feels more like ten." she groaned.

Luke knelt down beside her. "Are you alright, Flora?" he said softly.

Flora smiled, a bit wider than she had intended, then replied, "Yes, I'm alright, just weary is all."

Travis spotted a black-suited officer in the shadows on the street at the other side of the trench. On the back of his uniform was printed 'Experimental Subject Retrieval Officer'

"Ah, fucking great. They've called in the ESROs." Travis groaned.

"What are the ESROs?" asked Luke, the usual blank look on his face.

"Basically, if you get brought in by the ESROs, you couldn't actually be more fucked." Travis grimaced. "They capture the best rebels and use them for nuclear weapons testing. Some people have been stripped of all humanity… and they're the lucky ones. Nobody's ever died in there, but nobody's ever stayed sane for more than a week either."

"So, because we've managed to survive in the wilderness for so long, you reckon they're thinking of sending us there?" Luke said nervously. "That sounds awfully scary."

"Yeah. Sucks for us." said Travis, kicking the ground.

"We should really try to escape, as soon as possible." Luke said, starting to panic.

"Don't get worked up. We won't achieve anything if we don't all think straight." said Travis. "Take it from someone who's tried before; escaping is next to impossible. Even if you get out of the city, the situation ends up like a cat and mouse game. Even with my ace katana skills, we're completely outgunned and outnumbered."

"So, what _are_ we going to do?" Flora asked.

"Do you even have a plan?" said Luke, scowling.

The guard who had jumped into the trench was struggling to climb up the other side. The other guard made his way down to help him. Travis smiled. "Okay, here's our window of opportunity, lets use it…"

But just then, the beeping of a sonar echoed through the streets, loud enough to wake the dead. A massive aircraft was approaching the trench, probably bringing reinforcements.

"Jesus H. Christ!" Travis exclaimed. "That thing is huge! They must be calling in the better half of the entire police force!"

To Be Concluded


End file.
